Allegiant Air kicks off service to Las Vegas from Sonoma County

Steve Herrick eagerly packed his bags Thursday morning for a big reunion of his Navy buddies in Las Vegas.

Adding to the Santa Rosa man’s excitement was the fact he doesn’t have far to drive to catch a flight to Sin City.

He and his girlfriend were planning to be aboard Allegiant Air’s first plane to Las Vegas from Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport. If all goes as planned, Herrick and Mary Morris, a Santa Rosa city employee, will depart the airport at 4 p.m. today and arrive in Las Vegas 90 minutes later in time for the evening buffet at the casino.

“It’s incredible,” said Herrick, who works with a wine and liquor distributor. “Everyone I’ve talked to recently said it’s so much nicer to go out of here rather than San Francisco and Oakland where you have to fight traffic jams, very expensive parking and long lines.”

Herrick, who said he served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga in the early 1970s, is attending his first reunion of his shipmates.

“I won’t be doing much gambling,” he said. “We’re going down to be with people I served with.”

Don’t have weekend plans yet? Allegiant’s website Thursday morning was still advertising a Thursday-to-Sunday getaway to Sin City for $185 roundtrip per person. The Sunday flight arrives in Sonoma County at 8:10 p.m., leaving time to recover by Monday morning.

The price doesn’t include all of the fees the airline tacks on. There are charges for carry-on bags, printed out tickets - even onboard water or sodas.

Allegiant is the second commercial airline to serve Sonoma County. Alaska Airlines started providing nonstop flights from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland in 2007, filling a hole left by the 2001 departure of United Express. It added flights to Las Vegas in 2008, but ended the route in 2012 and replaced it with flights to San Diego. Alaska also recently started daily service to John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

The Sonoma County airport hasn’t had two airlines in more than 20 years. Allegiant is scheduled to begin service to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport on May 26.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” airport manager Jon Stout said.

Allegiant is using a single McDonnell Douglas MD-80 for the flights, with the first plane from Las Vegas due to arrive in Sonoma County at noon Thursday.

The plane has capacity for about 160 passengers. As of Wednesday afternoon, Thursday’s flight from Las Vegas was about half-full and the Sonoma-Las Vegas flight was almost sold out, according to Stout.

Reno Air operated a smaller version of the MD-80 out of the airport in the 1980s. The airport expanded its main runway in 2014 to 6,000 feet to more easily accommodate larger aircraft.

Allegiant has come under federal scrutiny recently following several incidents, including a low-fuel landing in Fargo, N.D., and an aborted takeoff in Las Vegas last summer. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the airline’s operations.

Stout acknowledged the airline has a “few issues.” But he said he considers the airline safe to fly.